A Must-Have Series for the Home Gardener

This helpful iBook series can transform you into a successful southern gardener. It can help you create a vision, season it with inspiration, apply science and experience, and realize your dream of a beautiful garden. Learn about designing, fertilizing, watering, pruning, selecting plants, and more.

Service Oriented. Community Motivated. Extension Trained.

The Alabama Master Gardener Volunteer Program is an educational volunteer recruitment program where participants receive classroom and hands-on instruction in horticulture and related areas. Volunteers work with Extension to offer their communities reliable, relevant, and reachable gardening information.

Learn & Grow with These Garden Ready Resources

“Forcing”—causing bulbs to flower in other than naturally occurring conditions—began so that people of modest incomes could enjoy flowers at any time of the year. You can assemble your own forcing kit with only bulbs, potting mix, containers, and the guidelines in this eight-page publication. Offers tips on purchasing, scheduling, planting, and providing the necessary cold period for your bulbs. Includes tables of common tulip, daffodil, and hyacinth cultivars, as well as less commonly forced indoor bulbs—from snowdrops and crocus to iris and English bluebells.

The camellia has long been a pampered and cherished plant, considered more delicate and difficult to grow than it really is. Gardeners are rediscovering the camellia as an evergreen shrub of ruggedness and great beauty. This twelve-page publication describes the ideal growing environment, planting and care tips, illustrated instructions for propagation, and problem solving for common pests—and identifies varieties appropriate for the beginning grower.

Make every drop count. And we're not just speaking of water. Alabama Smart Yards teaches you how to recognize and manage all of the natural resources within and surrounding your property. Everyone plays a part in keeping Alabama beautiful. Following the guidelines in this tip sheet will save you time, energy, and money while preserving the state's natural heritage.

Many products to control fire ants are on the market. This publication is the result of a survey of 20 stores in Alabama and explains the uses of broadcast and individual mound treatments. The included tables compare products by price per 1,000 square feet and by acre, by active ingredient, and number of stores that carry the product. The last table compares the active ingredients by speed of control, how it works, and half life in soil.

Hummingbirds are fun to watch and easy to attract by using feeders or by planting flowers in your yard. Feeders are inexpensive and easy to maintain. Hummingbird watching can be an exciting and fun-filled activity for the whole family.

Success in the home garden comes with careful planning and constant attention! This four-page publication offers recommendations for success, on selecting a site and using organic mater to improve your soil, disease and insect control, irrigation and harvesting. Also includes an invaluable planting chart, with planting dates, seed quantity and spacing recommendations, days to maturity, and common cultivars for Alabama vegetables asparagus to kohlrabi, brussel sprouts to turnips; eggplant to tomato to watermelon.

Alabama has a rich abundance of wildflowers, yet their use in residential and commercial landscapes is often overlooked. With prudent care, native plants can be preserved in their native habitats or established in urban landscapes. This twelve-page publication offers guidelines on plant and site selection, plus special considerations for commercial use. Includes valuable tables: endangered and threatened plants of Alabama, U.S. sources for wildflower seeds and plants, and particular species suitable for woodland, meadow, and bog gardens.

You're probably familiar with the pink or blue cloud-shaped blooms of the bigleaf, or French, hydrangea, but that is only one plant in a large and varied group of shrub sizes, textures, flower shapes, and colors that are resilient in the southern landscape. The illustrations, tables, and color photos in this publication will guide you through the many species of hydrangea cultivars—from the frail-looking but surprisingly tough serrated hydrangea to the less common climbing hydrangea. Includes ideal planting conditions and care—even instructions for altering the pH range of the soil to change or intensify the color of your blossoms.

Mosquitoes are annoying pests that carry diseases to humans and animals. This publication helps the reader understand which mosquito species live in and around the home. Other information includes mosquito life cycle and biology, feeding habits, diseases, and protection of yourself and your home.

A bountiful home garden comes only with planning and constant attention. This 28-page publication will help you achieve success in selecting a site; preparing the soil and choosing seeds; and controlling weeds, insects, and diseases. Includes spring and fall planting chart for approximately 30 vegetables and a guide to harvesting at the correct stage, plus soil troubleshooting for poor drainage, nutrient deficiencies, and excessive phosphorous.

Even though poinsettias were almost unknown just 70 years ago, today they are the most popular flowering potted plant in the United States. This two-page publication provides information on plant selection, care, and life-expectancy, as well as on the challenges of post-holiday care and re-flowering. Whether you keep your plant for years or only for a holiday season, this publication will help you get the most out of your poinsettia—and the beauty it contributes to the season.

It is immportant to select the right plants for your garden. The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map shows zones of average minimum temperatures. Select only plants that tolerate the average lowest temperature in your region. Use the map to find the Plant Hardiness Zones for your area.

Rain gardens are designed to capture rain water from your roof top, driveway, and upland areas and allow the rain water to slowly soak into the ground over a period of the day. Learn about how to construct a rain garden and get recommendations for planting from the Alabama Smart Yards book.
The Alabama Smart Yards (ASY) program is a cooperative alliance whose mission is to introduce environmental consciousness to homeowners and neighborhoods. This extensive handbook is packed with vital information that will help you create and implement a successful landscape plan.

Native plants occur in a locale without human activity and support other neighboring plants and animals as an integral part of the ecosystem. They are better adapted and make landscapes more durable. Find a list of Alabama's native plants and learn more about planting native from the Alabama Smart yards book.
The Alabama Smart Yards (ASY) program is a cooperative alliance whose mission is to introduce environmental consciousness to homeowners and neighborhoods. This extensive handbook is packed with vital information that will help you create and implement a successful landscape plan.

Most insects in your garden don't harm plants. In fact, 97 percent of the insects you see benefit your garden. They pollinate plants, improve your soil, and eat the pests that really harm plants. Take a look at this quick guide to meet these hard-working beneficials and find out why they can be a gardener's best friend.